On Saturday, February 13, No. 9 Virginia hosts North Carolina at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. The game will tip at 6:00 p.m. ET, when the Tar Heels will look to build on their victory over Duke last week.
Will North Carolina improve its tournament chances with a huge road win? Find out in our North Carolina vs. Virginia picks and predictions.
North Carolina Tar Heels at Virginia Cavaliers Betting Preview
Key Injuries
North Carolina: Puff Johnson (questionable)
Virginia: Kody Stattmann (out)
Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.
Betting Trend to Know
The Under is 6-2 in North Carolina’s last eight games against teams with winning records. Find more NCAA betting trends for North Carolina vs. Virginia.
NCAAB Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonVirginia hit the FanDuel odds board as a 6.5-point home favorite and late Friday night fell to -6, where the number remains as of 2:45 p.m. ET. The Cavaliers are drawing 60 percent of tickets on the point spread, but spread money is almost dead even, with Virginia landing 61 percent of cash. The total is down a point to 128.5, with ticket count 4/1 and money 2/1 on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this game
Against the Spread (ATS) Pick
It’s hard to know whether or not North Carolina will come ready to play in this one, as the Tar Heels missed their last game against Miami due to COVID-related concerns. However, the Tar Heels were coming off a 91-87 victory over the rival Blue Devils, and that win seemed like one that could carry Roy Williams’ team a long way. North Carolina had struggled mightily on the offensive end all season, but they were able to get it going there. And overall, this seems like a pretty large amount of points to be giving to a talented Tar Heels group, even if the Cavaliers are very good in their own right.
One player that should be an X-factor in this game is Caleb Love. Love had 25 points and seven assists against Duke, and his confidence should be through the roof right now. Love is a big point guard, at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds. That gives him a huge size advantage against Kihei Clark, who is just 5-foot-9 and 160. Virginia’s defense will not create that many opportunities for Love to go head-to-head with Clark, but he should be able to get to the rim when those situations present themselves.
Look out for Kerwin Walton in this game, too. Walton took only four shots against Duke last game, and all four were made threes. He’s one of the best shooters in college basketball, and the Heels will look to get him involved here.
PREDICTION: North Carolina +6.5 (-110)
Over/Under Pick
While North Carolina’s offense should be enough to keep this game close, it certainly isn’t good enough to make this a high-scoring affair. Realistically, nobody is capable of speeding the Cavaliers up — except for a team like Gonzaga. This will be a classic, grind-it-out battle between two mainstays at the top of the ACC standings. It’s just hard to imagine this game opening up and turning into a shootout.
PREDICTION: Under 129.5 (-110)
North Carolina vs Virginia Betting Card
- North Carolina +6.5 (-110)
- Under 129.5 (-110)
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